Ironing press



Oct. 2 5, 1932. r BAKER 1, 83,863

IRONING PRESS Filed Sept. 9, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN vc/v 70R B arfhzwh fl MVWK Y Arr RNEXS F. E. BAKER moume PRESS Oct. 25', 1932.

Filed Sept. 9. 1930 s SheeEsQ-Sheet 2 I VtNTOR 'Wmvtss Afro N675 Oct. 25, 1932. F. E. BAKER IRONING PRESS Filed Sept. 9, 1930 3r sheetssheet IN VIA/70R Patented Oct. 25, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANK E. BAKER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO LOUIS WILL, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK v momma rnnss Application filed September 9, 1980. Serial No. 480,629.

face and that the buck is looselymounted,

upon the same horizontal surface in a plane between the lower 'and upper arms and in front of the closed side of the U-shaped carriage and is provided with cushion feet resting upon said surface for frictionally holding the buck against accidental sliding movement on said surface during the ironing operation. v

The main object is to provide a simple and highly efiicient ironing press of this character in which the buck support and head support are made in separate portable units capable of being easily and quickly placed, one at a time, in operative position upon the surface of a table or other horizontal support ready for use and as quickly and easily removed and stored away when the ironing operationsare completed, thus leaving the table free to use 7 elevation of an ironing press embodying the various features of my invention as used in for other purposes.

One of the specific objects is to provide the buck-supporting frame with cushion feet adapted to rest upon the supporting surface for frictionally' holding the same against accidental sliding movement upon said surface and at the same time reducin any liability. of marring sai surface.

Another specific object is to provide the head supporting carriage with supporting wheels resting upon said surface to permit the carriage to be rolled forwardly and rearwardly forefiecting a corresponding movetion directly over the buck and at the same time to yieldingly supportthe press head upon the carriage for independent vertical movement to and from its pressing position.

In my pending applications, above referred to, the carriage is movable along and upon a track which in turn is secured to a horizontal support and'one of the broad objects of the present invention is to reduce to-a minimum the number of parts required for the successto a minimum ment of the press head to and from a posi-v ful operation of a machine of this characterby causing the head supporting carriage and buck supporting frame to loosely rest upon any available horizontal supporting surface such as a table which, when these units are removed, may be used for other purposes, thus permitting the entire ironing press to be made and sold at an extremely low cost to the user.

' In fact, in some instances where a built-in ironing board is employed and adjusted for use, the buck and its supporting frame herein illustrated could be dispensed with in which case an ordinary kitchen table or equivalent support might be placed in a position directly under the ironing board for receiving and supporting the head-supporting carriage without departing from the spirit of the present invention, thereby further reducing the number of parts and cost of installation of the ironing press. Y Y

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the machine will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings: v

Figure 1 is a top plan and Figure 2 a front connection with an ordinary kitchen table or equivalent support having I a substantially horizontal upper surface.

Figure 3 is an enlargedend view, partly in section, of the same machine, the press head and its depressing means being shown by full lines in their forward positions while the portion of the carriage and its press head is shown by dotted lines in its rearmost position leaving a clear open space entirely around the marginal edges of the buck for the reception and proper arrangement of the garment thereon preparatory to ironing.

Figure 4 is a horizontal. sectional view taken in the plane of line 44, Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail horizontal sectional view taken in the plane of line 5-5, Figure 2.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional view taken in the plane of line 6-6, Figure 2. V

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail vertical sec taken in the plane of line 8-8, Figure 5.

As illustrated this machine comprises a portable buck supporting frame 1 carrymg a buck 2- and constituting what may be termed a garment supporting unit, and

a portable head supporting frame 3-- car- 1 rymga press head 4 which, together withthe frame -'3'- and connections between the press headand said frame, constitute what may be termed the pressing unit,

each unit being made separately from the it may be easily handled and transported from one place to another for installation upon/any horizontal surface as, for example,

upon the surface of a table A- or may be 29 separately "stored in compact space in any available place to allow the table to be used for other purposes. I y

The pressing surface of the buck 2- and press head 4- are usually of equal area and are preferably elongated laterally a distance several times their. width so as to afford a relatively large pressing area upon a garment in one and the same operation, thereby 8 reatly reducing the time required for ironlarger area than the surface of the pressing elements.

In many instances, however, these larger articles may be folded in such manner'that they may be satisfactorily ironed in one operation.

The'press head is preferably hollow to receive a suitable heater, preferably an electric heater of the class set forth in my pending application Serial No. 400,652,fi1ed October 18, 1929, while the buck is preferably unheated exceptfor such heat as may be transmitted thereto from the head, it being vunderstood tha the articles to be ironed are usually brough to the machine in a more or low dampened cbndition commonly practiced in laundry work.

The buck 2- comprises a sheet-metal plate 5- and a pad 6 mounted thereon to form -a yielding support for the articles to be ironed. the plate 5- being provided with a downturned marginal flange --7-- zontalflanges of the lengthwise bars '-11 for reinforcing purposes, thus permitting the plate tobe made of comparatively thin sheet metal. for reducing the weight thereof. 7

The plate 5- is mounted directly upon the top of its supporting frame -1 having all parts thereof a considerable distance within the marginal edges of the buck to leave a clear open space around and under said marginal edges and thus permit the articles to beironed to be properly manipulated or spread out upon the .uppersurface and around said marginal edges preparatory to f ironing the same, it being understood that tional view taken in theiplane of line 77,'

other and constructed in such manner that 7 hold cidental lateral movement upon the table sur- 4 m sheets, tablecloths, and other articles of garment and press head from one and the same position, commonly known as the front side of the machine.

The buck-supporting frame may be of any desired construction but preferably com- 7 prises a pair of forwardly and rearwardly extending angle irons 8- arranged in parallel spaced relation in a substantially horizontal plane and supported upon suitable legs 9--having cushioned feet -10 of relatively soft rubber or equivalent material adapted to loosely rest directly upon the upper surface of the table -A to frictionally the buck-supporting frame against acface. 7

These angle irons are arranged with their angles facing outwardly so that their inner flanges may project downwardly from the inner edges of the upper horizontal flanges at the inner sides of the adjacent legs --9-- to form ides between which the lower porable in a manner herein more fully explained, the upper horizontal flanges of the angle irons -8 being spot-welded or otherwise permanently secured to the upper ends of the legs -,9 which extend' downwardly some distance below the lower edges of the '00 tion 0 the head supporting carriage 1s movangle irons to support said angle irons some distance'above the surface of the'table when the buck supporting frame is placed thereon.

A pair of lengthwise bars 11 are spotwelded or otherwise secured to the upper faces of the transverse bars in transversely spaced -parallel relation as shown more, clearly in Figures 2 and 3 for holding said-bars ---8. in fixed relation, said lengthwise bars '11 preferably consisting of angle irons arranged with their open sides .facingeach other and their lower flanges secured directly to the upper faces of the transverse bars -8, and, together with said transverse bars and legs 9, constitute what may be termed the base frame of the buck-supporting frame.

A' plurality of, in this instance four, up-

wise secured at their lower ends to the horito extend upwardly equal distances therefrom in uniformly spaced relation transversely and alsoin uniformly spaced relation longitudinally of the machine as shown more right posts 12- are spot-welded or ,otherextending bars --13 in transversely spaced parallel relation and in a plane some distance above but parallel with the lower lengthwise bars 11 as shown in Figure 3.

These bars 13 and .-14 constitute what may be termed the upper frame of the main supporting frame and serve to receive and support the buck -'2 having its metal plate --5- spot-welded or otherwise secured to the upper faces of the angle iron bars 1 1-,- the'posts '12 serving as connections between the lower and upper supplemental frames of the main supporting frame for the buck.

It" is now, clear that the buck-supporting frame as a unit is of a skeleton type to assist in reducing the weight of the machine and particularly the 'buck supporting unit.

cad supporting unit the machine to form what may be termed the U-shaped carriage having its lower and I upper arms substantially parallel and disposed respectively in planes some distance below and also some distance above the plane of the buck '2 thereof. a r

The transverse lengths of the lower and upper arms of the carriage .-3 are considerto extend transversely ablytgreater than the transverse width of.

the buck 2- so that when the carriage is brought forwardly to its pressing position the rear closed sides of-the U-shaped members 15 will be spaced some distance from the rear edge of the buck to allow the articles to be ironed to pass freely through the intervening space when necessary, without in any way interfering with the free backward and forward movement-of the carriage, in a manner presentlyedescribed.

The lower arms of the U-shaped members --15 are connected by lengthwise shafts .-16'- arranged in transversely spaced parallel relation and having their opposite ends journaled in suitable bearings in the lower arms as shown more clearly in Figure 4, said shafts being provided with tight collars -16 on opposite ends thereof adjacent the outer faces of the lower arms of the members -15 to hold said shaft against undue faces of the lower arms of the members 1 5 and adapted to roll upon the upper surface of the table -A' and thus permitthe carriage 3'- to be moved freely forwardly and rearwardly for effecting .a corresponding movement of the press head 4- to and from a position above the buck -2.

The lengths of the shafts 16 are approximately equal to or slightly less than the distance between the lower transverse frame bars 8- which serve as guide members to direct the forward and rearward movements of the carriage in a rectilinear path parallel with the frame members .8. p

The lower arms as 15' of the carriage as 16-' of the'carriage are of slightly less vertical width than the distance between the lower faces of the lengthwise frame bars -11 and lower ends of the cushioned feet -10 so that when the buck-supporting frame is resting upon the upper surface of the table -A- the lower armsof the carriage may move freely through the intervening space between said surface and lower faces of the bars 11- and still be held against vertical movement during the pressing operation.

The diameters of the carriage-supporting wheels 17- are also slightly less than the vertical distance between the table surface and lower faces of the bars --11 to allow them to move freely through the intervening space without frictional engagement with said bars as shown more clearly in Figures 1 2 and 3. The front ends'of the upper arms as15"- 'of the U-shaped members 15' are con-i nected by a longitudinally extending handle bar -18- having its opposite ends secured in suitable openings in the arms 15" to hold the latter in fixed relation against undue lateral movement. r

, These U-shaped bars -15 are preferably made of flat steel or equivalent more or less resilient material arranged edgewise vertically so as to afford considerable spring resistance against relative vertical movement of the free ends thereof and at the same time to exert considerable pressure on the press head toward the buck when the press head is moved into engagement with the buck in a manner presently described for effecting the desired ironing pressure upon the articles on the buck.

Spring suspension for the head Suitable means is provided for yieldingly holding the press head 4 in a plane some distance above the upper surface of the buck to afford ample clearance for the articles to be ironed between the buck and head as the latter is moved to and from a position above the buck and at the same time to allow the head to be forced into pressing co-action with 7 wardly and outwardly at 19' and se- 10 wise secured at 23 to the upper surface of the press head -'4 so that the pivotal connection 21- will be approximately midway betweenthe front and rear edges of the head as shown in Figures 1 and 3, said anchor bolts being passed through apertures in their. re-

spective arms 15- and tightly clamped in place but'may be adjusted angularly about. their respective axes for placing the springs under'suflicient tension to yieldingly support the head above and in spaced relation to the buck.

It is now clear that the press head is pivotally suspended from the front ends of the spring 19 which constitute a resilient connection between the carriage 3 and press head and that the press head may move backwardly and forwardly with the carriage to and from a position directly over the buck as shown by full lines in Figure 3, onto and from a position some distance to the rear of the buck as shown by dotted lines in the same figures.

Head operating means Suitable means is provided for. forcing the press head downwardly to its pressing position against the action of the springs -19- and for this purpose is provided a cam plate 24- having an upwardly and forwardly inclined operating handle or lever -25 rigidly secured thereto for turning the cam v plate -24 from a normally flat horizontal position to a substantially vertical osition, said plate being interposed between t e lower edges of the upper arms -15 of the carriage -3'-' and upper surface of the press head 4:- as shown more clearly in Figures 3, 5,6 and 8. r

The thickness of the cam plate -24- between the upper arms -15" of the carriage- 3-- and upper surface of the press head is somewhat less than the distance. be-

\ tween those parts to permit the interposition of a pair of slides '26 between the cam plate and. lower edges of the arms 15"- and also to permit the interposition of a pressure regulating member -27--- between the cam plate and upper surface of the head 4 as shown more clearly in Figures 3 and 6.

It willalso be observed that the thickness of the'cam plate -24- is about equal to the normal distance between the lower edges of the slides -26- and upper surface of the K '65 pressure regulating mem er -27 when the the engagement of the lower arms]-15':-:-.

press head is its normal elevated position t in which position the cam plate will be nor"- mally held flatwise between the parts 26- and -27' due to the upward pressure 0mm front ends of the springs -19 acting upon the press head to elevate the same. 7

' Theopposite ends of the-cam plate-2 k between the arms 15 and press head" --4 are of considerably greater width thanthe normal distance between the parts 26 and -2'Z- softhat when the cam plate turned from its normal fiat horizontal plane I to a substantially vertical position the front edges thereof will bear against the undera x sides of the slides -26 while their rear edges will bear against the upper face of the", I

member 27--, thereby forcing the press head 4 downwardly against the action of the springs +19 into pressing co-act-ion with the buck 2-- when the press head is moved into re 'stration with the buck as shown by fullhnes in Figure 3.

During this latter operation the ress' head engages the work onthe buck just efore the That is, when the press head is forced downwardly into pressing co-action with the buck -2' by the turning of the cam plate 24 to a vertiealdposition, downward pressure will be exerte the buck'through the medium 0 the head --e "while at the same time upward. pres-"- surewill be exerted upon the upper-arms '-15"- of the carriage 3- tending to? Said carriage, al y but this var-ti: cal movement of the carriage is resisted ,by

with t e undersidesof the frame members U-shaped in cross section toform a channel f o for receiving the lower edge of the adjacent Y plate reaches its vertical position, therew by saidcam plate upon under reason of their engagement -11- tending to liftthe buck-supporting 7 frame, but such tendency is resisted byfan equal downward pressure upon the u per sur face of the buck thus permitting-t e upperg. as

n: spring tension which is sufiiciently high to upper arm 15" of the carriage 3, the lower closed side of said slide forming a raceway], for anti-friction balls -29-1 beas shown more clear y a in Figure 6 to enablethe slides to move freely 1 tween t e bottom of the slide. and lower ed e of the arms -15" backward and forward along their respective arms --15'-by the'tu'rning movement of; i:

the cam plate 24 The object of the slides 26- and balls -29 is to reduce friction incidental to the turning operation of the cam plate.

The ends of the channels in the slides --26are provided with stop flanges 26' for limiting the endwise movement of the arms -15" of the carriage 3 and is-- held against forward and rearward displacement by upright posts 30- which. are secured to the top of the press head '4 to extend upwardly therefrom at the outer sides of the upper arms -15- of said carriage, said posts being arranged in transversely V spaced relation across the front and rear edges of the adjacent ends of the cam bar as shown more clearly in Figures 1, 3, 5 and 8.

The front and rearedges of each end of the cam bar 24 are provided with recesses 31- open at the outer edges of the bar for receiving the adjacent posts -30-' to hold said cam bar against endwise movement rela-' tively to the press head while permitting free rocking substantially flat horizontal position to a vertical position and vice versa, as shown more clearly in Figures 5and 8.

The front edges of the portions of the cam.

bar 24- directly over the slides -\-26 are provided with recesses 24 for receiving pendant flanges 26"- on the undersides of the slides for limiting the rearward movement of the slides acrossthe upper faces of the adjacent portions of the cam bar when the latter is in a flat horizontal position as shown more clearly in Figure 6.

The distance between the inner walls of the recesses 31 of each bar in opposite ends of the cam bar 24 is approximately equal to the distance between -the adjacent posts -30 so that when the cam bar is in a flat horizontal position it will be held by the posts against forward and rearward movement except that it is free to rock upwardly and rearwardly from the horizontal position shown by full lines in Figures 3 and 8 to a substantially vertical position as shown by dotted I prefera ly employ a pair of similar pres.- sure regulating devices 27, each of which is located in a horizontal plane between the upper surface of the press head 4 and underside of the adjacent end of the cam bar 24.- as shown in Figures 5 and 8, said pressure regulators being rotatably mounted upon the front posts -'30- and are each as shown in Figure 5.

serving to hold movement of the cam bar from a,

provided with'a plurality of, in this instance five, radial arms \27 arranged in umformly spaced relation circumferentially about the axis of their central posts 30-\ i The lower faces of these arms 27('-' rest flatwise upon the upper surface of thepress head -4- but the upper surfaces of the outer ends of the arms -27' are provided with recesses 33- of difierent depths so that the adjacentportions' of the arms will be' of difi'erent thicknesses to compensate for'dif- I ferent thicknesses of the articles operated upon and also to'enable the press head to be forced to its pressing position under difierent wor by the turning o the cam. bar from its horizontal to its vertical position, it being understood that the members -27' may be rotated about their respective posts 30 to successively register the outer ends of their arms -2'Z- with the inner walls of the recesses -31 -in the rear edges of the opposite ends of the cam plate so that when the latter is turned-from a horizontal position as shown in Figure 8 to a vertical position as shown by dotted lines in Figure 3, the inner walls of the cam plate will enter the registering notches -33 in the arms 27- the lower .walls of said notches forming fulcrum bearin s upon which the cam plate is. turned to e ect the desired depression of the press head into pressing co-action with the buck 2.

The arms 27 are provided with identification characters such as the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 arranged equal distances from the axis of rotation of the member sopressures accordin to thenature of the that the numerals of each member -27'- may be brought one by one into registration with suitable sight openings 34-- in overlyingportions in opposite ends of .the cam plate '34 as shown in Figures 5 and 8.

- The cam plate 24.- may be provided with ball detents 35 just at the rear of' the sight openings -34 adapted to enter recesses -'35"- in the registering arms -27- for frictionally holding the members '--27 in their adjusted positions, it being understood that each member -27--- may be adjusted by hand angularly about its axis to selectively bring any one of the arms V--27 into registration with the sight openof the carriage '3-'-- is limited by a chain -36 or other suitable limiting device having one end preferably attached to therear engthwise bar --11- of the buck-supporting frame and'its other end attached to,the front cross shaft -16' of the carriage as shown more clearly in Figures 3 and 4, the length of the chain being sufiicientto allow the carriage to move from the osition shown by full lines to the position s own by dotted lines in Figure 3.

The bottom plate 5 .of-the buck 2- v is preferably perforated at throughout the major portion of its area to allow any water vapor or water of condensation which may pass into the pad -6 during the ironin operation to escape downwardly through tfi'e perforations in the plate 5- and at'the same time toallow air to circulate through the perforations for the purof keeping the pad 6- in a more or ess dry condition.

Operation 1 .When it is desired to use the ironing press the'buck-supporting frame with the buck thereon-will be placed in any convenient positionupon the surface of a table 8 or other flat support capable of receiving and supporting the buck-snpportingunit and hes. supporting unit. 1 a

- The head-supporting unit is then placed upon the table in proper position to move transversely ofthe buck between the opposite 7 and rails 8 of the buck-supporting frame and is then moved to its 'rearmost position until limited by'the stop chain 36, thereby leaving a clear open space above and around the marginal edges of the buck for the reception of the article to be ironed.

*' After the work has been properly smoothed out upon the upper surface of the buck the carriage is brought forwardly by hand, preferably through the medium of the handle t-18- or '25-, until the head 4 is in a osition directly over the buck 2-,' it bemg understood that the head has been previously heated, preferably by a self-contained electric heater and that the cam plate 24 will be in its normal flat horizontal position, the head being then yieldingly suspended from the front ends of the springs 15 in vertically s aced relation to the upper surface of'the uck.

Now, in order to effect the ironing operation, the cam plate 24- will be rocked from its normal horizontal plane toa substantially vertical plane, thereby causing the rear edges of its opposite ends to engage the upper faces of the underlying arms 27- of the pressure-re lating members 27--, while the front ges of the same ends will be brought 5 V intoen'gagement with the undersides of the '35 slides -26 which are free to slide rear- .wardly 'along'the undersides of the upper of the carriage, to exert downward pressure upon the press head into pressing co-action with the buck and vat the same time to exert upward pressure f upon the front ends of the upper arms under more or 1cm 15'.'--"'of *the carriage to place said arms transmitted to the. head 4- and thence to the work on th e buck through themedium spring tension which is of the cam plate -24:- and pressure-regulating member 27-. 1 V

It is, of course,;understood that when the cam .plate is moved to its vertical position it will automatically lock the press'head in its pressing position upon the work,-thus permitting the heat of the head to be transmit ted to the work for a sufficient length of-time to effect the desired ironing operation upon the work. I

The time required for eflicient ironing effect :is comparatively sma1l,usually only a few seconds, while at the same time a considerable area of the work corresponding to' 7 that of the buck and head will be irone one operation.

As soon as the ironing operation is completed the cam plate 24- will be restored to its normal horizontal plane by meansof the handle --25-, thereby allowing the springs'-19 to raise the head clear from the workand also from the buck immediately followingwhich the carriage with the head I thereon is returned to its rearmost starting position, either by the handle 25- or han-' dle -l8-, thus completing one ironing op eration which may be repeated upon different portions of the same article or upon different 7 articles in the manner described.

During this pressing operation, or atany timebetween the operations any vapor ormoisture of condensation arising from con- 4 tact of the heated press head with themoistened articles may pass downwardlythrou h the perforations inthe bottom plate of t e buck to the atmosphere or, through the'same' ioo passages, air may circulate to keep the pad separately rom the surface of the'table or other support and laid aside in compact space readyfor refuse when necessary. It will be observed that this device is adapted more specificallyfor household use to take the place of the usual mangle and that by reason of its simplicity and large ironing area it is far more expeditious and eflicient in its addition to the fact that it reduces to a minimum the liability of accidents from burning or pressure of the hands or arms between the pressing elements, thereby rendering the maoperation upon the work than a" mangle in chine as a whole extremely desirable for household laundering.--.

I claim: I 1. In .an ironing with a substantially at horizontal support ing surface, separate frames each movable ress, the combination horizontal] to different positions upon said surface an rovided with separate pressin elements in (E g 'fierent horizontal planes adapted to be moved into and out of vertical alignment by the relative movement of said frames, means operable at will for moving one of the registering elements into pressing coaction with the other element, and co-operative means on said frames for preventing relativevertical movement of the frames duringthe pressing operation.

2. port, a buck-supporting unit and a headsupporting unit provided with a buck and head respectively, both units being movable to different positions along and upon the support into and out of vertical alignment with eachother, means for moving said head ver-. tically into and out of pressing coaction with the aligned'buck, and cooperative means on said units for preventing relative vertical movement thereof during the pressing operation.

3,.- In an ironing press, the combination with a substantially flat and horizontal supporting surface, a buck-supporting frame movable to different positions upon said surtion.

face and provides with a buck, a wheel carriage movable upon said surface and provided with a press-head movable therewith to and from a position above and in vertical alignment with the buck, and means for'moving the press-head into and out ofpressing coaction with the buck when registered therewith and cooperative means on the frame and carriage for preventing relative vertical movement thereof during the pressing opera- 4. In an ironing press, a substantially horizontal supporting surface, a buck supporting frame provided with a buck and having feet resting upon said surface in movable relation thereto, a head-supporting -frame provided with a head and having rollers resting upon said surface to enable the head to be moved to and from a position over the buck, means til for forcing the head into pressing co-action with the buck when overlying the same, and co-operative means on said frames for holding the head supporting frame against-vertical displacement from said supporting surface during the pressing operation.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of August, 1930.

FRANK E. BAKER.

In an ironing press, a horizontal sup- 

